Awards, Recognition Growing for UA Community Design Center

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas Community Design Center has won yet another award — make that two! — for a grand total of nine national and international design and education awards since Director Stephen Luoni came on board in August 2003.

 “Under Steve Luoni’s leadership, UACDC has reached a phenomenal level of success that no other center has achieved,” said Jeff Shannon, dean of the School of Architecture. “In my opinion, our community design center is the best in the nation.”

Although no institution tracks the activities of community design centers, some 26 of which are located throughout the United States, a survey of UACDC’s peers — community design centers at Kent State University, Yale University and the University of Minnesota — suggests that UACDC’s national track record is unique.

On Sept. 28, Luoni will fly to Boston to accept a $10,000 regional acknowledgement prize from the Holcim Foundation that recognizes UACDC’s sustainable design work for Warren, Ark. The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Development has developed a worldwide forum on design and sustainability, funding global conferences, exhibits and a triennial design competition that awards more than $2 million dollars in prize money. This year’s competition prompted more than 5,000 submissions, with nine winners each from five continents.

Luoni will return to Boston in November to accept an Unbuilt Architecture Design Award from the Boston Society of Architects. This award recognizes UACDC’s planning work for an arboretum in Two Rivers Park, which also won a 2005 Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects earlier this year.

While these awards burnish UACDC’s national reputation, they also have potential impact right here in Arkansas.

 “These awards help us come closer to our goal, which is to create national models with Arkansas projects. Ultimately, of course, I hope that national recognition will help raise funds so that these projects can be built,” Luoni said.

UACDC’s proposal to rehabilitate a flood-prone, polluted stream into an urban greenway that winds through downtown Warren has previously won a national Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects and a Citation Award from the state chapter of the AIA.  The project was published in the May 2005 issue of Architectural Record. UACDC continues to consult with Warren city leaders and MESA Landscape Architects of Little Rock as they work to raise funds for the project.

“The city of Warren has just received a $15,000 grant from the Arkansas Forestry Commission to help realize this project,” said Maribeth Frazer, member of the Warren City Planning Commission. “Now that we’ve received detailed specifications and a budget from MESA, we’re in the process of applying for everything we can get our hands on.”

Work has already begun on the Garden of Trees arboretum, which was published in the September issue of Landscape Architecture magazine.

“We have laid out and surfaced the interior trails, begun acquiring the bark we will need for design and weed suppression, and applied Johnson grass control,” said Judge Buddy Villines, who initiated the project. “We are ordering the first 500 to 1,000 trees to be planted in November. All of this has been done with our funds and before private fund raising begins,” he added.

“We are delighted that these projects are moving forward,” Luoni said.

Founded in 1995, the University of Arkansas Community Design Center has provided design and planning services to more than 30 communities across Arkansas. The center’s planning has helped Arkansas communities and organizations secure nearly $62 million in grant funding to enact suggested improvements. In addition to revitalizing historic downtowns, the center addresses new challenges in affordable housing, urban sprawl, environmental planning, and management of regional growth or decline. The design center also offers hands-on civic design experience to students who work under the direction of the UACDC’s design staff.

To access sample project images, visit the UACDC Web site at http://uacdc.uark.edu/. For more information on the Holcim Foundation award, visit www.holcimfoundation.org; to learn more about the Boston Society of Architects award, visit http://www.architects.org/.